Braves down Nationals

Evan Gattis slugged a two-run homer and Tim Hudson pitched seven strong innings, as the Atlanta Braves continued their torrid start with a 3-1 win over the Washington Nationals.

Hudson (2-0) limited the Nationals to a run on four hits with three strikeouts
and no walks to win his second straight start. He also had two of Atlanta's
eight hits and improved to 15-5 lifetime against the Nationals.

"We're just fortunate to get off to a good start and not get behind an 8-ball
too much," Hudson said. "Hopefully we just keep it up."

Ramiro Pena, who belted a go-ahead homer in the 10th inning of Friday's win,
also stroked a pair of hits in the victory. Atlanta has won eight straight and
the 10-1 start is the best for the Braves since the 1994 squad opened 13-1.

Danny Espinosa homered for Washington's lone run and Stephen Strasburg
(1-2) took a hard-luck loss. The ace right-hander was charged with two
unearned runs on five hits with a walk and seven strikeouts in six innings.

The Braves had a runner cut down in the second inning when Bryce Harper threw
out Dan Uggla trying to score from second on a single by Hudson, but picked up
a pair of unearned runs in the third. Justin Upton reached on a two-out error
by Ryan Zimmerman and Gattis followed with a drive over the left-center field
wall for his fourth home run.

"The previous at-bat I was up there missing a little bit," Strasburg said. "I
decided to try and go fastball away. I did it again and ran in one."

Washington was unable to convert leadoff singles in each of the first two
innings, as Jayson Werth lined into a double play in the first and Adam
LaRoche bounced into a twin-killing in the second.

The Nationals finally answered with a run in the fifth on Espinosa's two-out
blast into the right field seats.

Hudson, though, retired the last seven batters he faced and Eric O'Flaherty
worked a perfect eighth.

The Braves added a run in the ninth when Jason Heyward beat the relay on a
potential double-play grounder with the bases loaded and Craig Kimbrel set
down the Nats in order in the ninth to earn his sixth save.

Game Notes

Atlanta's B.J. Upton ended an 0-for-18 slump with a bloop single in the ninth
inning ... Hudson has now won each of his three matchups with Strasburg ...
Harper was 0-for-3 and failed to pick up a hit for just the second time in 11
games this season ... The Braves are 5-0 on a six-game road trip that ends
Sunday ... The series finale will feature Paul Maholm for Atlanta against
Washington lefty Gio Gonzalez.